The IT infrastructure Essay Example for Free

The IT infrastructure Essay Integrated Distributors Incorporated is facing a lot of challenges. The IT infrastructure has a lot of outdated hardware and software in multiple locations. This greatly increases security risks and exposes confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Some network compromises have ensued due to the outdated hardware and software. Sensitive and strategic information has been leaked to the public and it is time we put an end to this. End users are the number one security risk and must be dealt with first. In order to accomplish this goal, the company will need to replace the old, outdated systems with new, up-to-date systems. Dell is the optimal company to pursue these systems as they have a full support system that comes with the workstations. All networking components will need to be upgraded next as the current system is not very secure or reliable. I suggest going with a full cisco infrastructure and maintaining physical security by putting all of the switches in racks. Upgrading the infrastructure to a unified cisco presence will also scale into phone systems as well with VOIP options. This will also allow a unified presence with instant messenger and meetings online as well. A Cisco VPN will also be installed for remote access controls. The entirety of the network will have to be protected with Barracuda Firewalls as the threat to intrusion is rather high judging the frequency of the preceding attacks. The company will need to do a cost management analysis to this, however from my understanding, with the increased efficiency; we will be looking to come out on top after a three year return of investment on this purchase. I fully recommend we look at putting a honeypot somewhere in the DMZ so we can monitor how hackers attempt to gain access and thwart their efforts in the future. The Warsaw, Poland location, we must find a new proxy server to replace the IBM Infinity hardened server. The decentralization of all file servers and application servers will need to halt. Virtualization will need to be implemented over the first year to gain stability over the market with our products. I nominate we rent space from RackSpace in two separate locations to gain redundancy and minimize our latency in the event that  customers attempt to connect from a different location. RackSpace has extremely tight security and without authorization, access is not granted. The locations for RackSpace will be Dallas and Chicago as they are far apart and both locations are not as susceptible to the elements as other locations. Virtual hosting solutions will be set up in both locations and a full 100mbps MPLS circuit will be needed for replication purposes. A bulk of the hosting will be done from Dallas and most of the backup servers and replication hosts will be in Chicago just in case of a power outage within Dallas. An intrusion detection system will need to be set up to find intruders and alert IT staff to lock down the network. In order to prevent them from getting in, we will need to have an intrusion prevention system as well. The intrusion detection system will be set up to send e-mail messages to each network engineer. I also nominate removing Mareck from the Information Technology department and finding him a more suitable position as he is not fit for the position he is currently holding. All software that is currently being used will need to be researched and replacements will need to be found. We must find another software vendor to replace Oracle financials for accounting and financial systems, Logisuite 4.2.2, and RouteSim. All patching for computers and servers will need to be done manually and never automatically. All automatic updates will need to be turned off as they can potentially cause an outage. The information technology team will determine when patching will take place and send an e-mail stating when it needs to be done. In conclusion, IDI has a lot to do in order to secure their data. The cost effective and efficient manner is a very difficult solution, however the payoff is way better.

Asses sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement Essay Example for Free

Asses sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement Essay Ethnicity refers to shared cultural practices, perspectives, and distinctions that set apart one group of people from another. That is, ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. The most common characteristics distinguishing various ethnic groups are ancestry, a sense of history, language and religion. Modern Britain is said to be a multicultural society made up of many different ethnic groups. Achievement within education is very varied across cultures, with some such as Chinese and Indian students performing above the average, and African-Caribbean and Pakistani students performing well below average. There are many factors which can reduce a child from an ethnic backgrounds attainment. For instance, Material deprivation. Material deprivation focuses on income inequality and the material problems that are associated with it. An example of such a study is J. W. B Douglas, The Home and The School (1964). He argued that an interlocking network of inequalities existed which operated against many working class students. This included, differential effects of regional and variations in educational provision and expenditure. Also, housing and environmental factors. Which led to chances of access to good primary schools. Therefore, hindering the chance of access to top streams. As a result, minority ethnic children are more likely to live in low-income households. This means they face the problems that Douglas highlighted, the material factors, such as poor quality housing, no working space and even possibly bad influence of peers. One other reason for differences in educational achievement between ethnicities is the basic family life. African-Caribbean communities have a high level of lone parenthood. Actually, it is estimated 50% of African-Caribbean households have a lone-parent . This can mean that many face financial problems, this can lead to lower achievement in school (Douglas’ material factors). Conversely, single mothers can be a positive role model or influence for many young girls, meaning they perform better in education. Another explanation for ethnic differences is Language. For many children of an ethnic minority English is not their primary language. This can be a disadvantage because they may not understand exams as well as others. Also they might struggle to express themselves with limited English. Finally, some teachers may mistake poor English for a lack of intelligence, when actually this could be completely untrue, meaning that a clever child may be let down by the teacher who might not push the student to their full potential. However, you could argue that Chinese and Indian students first language isn’t English, on the other hand in these two cultures it is the norm to learn English as a strong second language. Therefore, they are not hindered by the second language barrier, as opposed to Bangladeshi’s for example. Language was such a big issue that Bernstein (1973) categorised students into two groups. Elaborated and restricted. In the case of an elaborated code, the speaker will select from a relatively extensive range of alternatives. However in the case of a restricted code the number of these alternatives is often severely limited. Bernstein’s work was not always praised. For instance, Labov (1974) argued that young blacks in the United States, although using language which certainly seems an example of the restricted code, nevertheless display a clear ability to argue logically. Their lack of knowledge concerning the subject may reach further than just the exams they have to take. For instance, due to the large amount of failing black Caribbean’s and Bangladeshi’s (a combined total of 41% managed to get 5 A* C grades), teachers may be subconsciously prejudiced against ethnic minorities. This can lower the students attainments in many ways, one is that the teachers give the student lower grades. Another way is that the teacher negatively labels a student of ethnic minority which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy. Racism can also lead to conflict between students and teachers, making learning a much harder task. Lastly, racism can lead to low-self esteem among ethnic minorities. A researcher who studies this was Howard Becker (1971). Becker Interviewed 60 Chicago high school teachers. He found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted image of â€Å"ideal pupil†. Their conduct appearance influenced judgement. Middle class was closest to ideal, working class furthest away labelled as badly behaved. As a result you can see, if teachers labelled students on how they look, you can imagine how they would label a whole ethnic race. Another factor for ethnic differences in educational achievement is the ethnocentric curriculum. There are several reasons why ethnic minorities may struggle due to this curriculum. One is that the subjects often focus on British culture; naturally White British students will have grown up with this culture, so they might have a greater understanding of the content than students who grew up in a different culture. Another reason is that the content of the curriculum could lower ethnic minorities self-esteem, this is because often the white character is seen as â€Å"good† and superior whilst the ethnic minorities are seen as â€Å"not as academic†. However, it is crucial not to forget that every ethnic minority underachieves at this level. In fact, in the UK, Chinese and Indian pupils score better grades than the â€Å"White† ethnic race. One of the main reasons for this is the support of the parents. Research has shown that some parents of ethnic minority, such as Chinese and Indian, take more interest in their child’s education, they also encourage their child more than other in other cultures. This obviously leads to higher achievement for the child. Not only the parents play a part. Some teachers may stereotype some ethnic minorities to be intelligent and hard-working. This encouragement and sort of support can aid a student in raising their grades. To conclude, there are many sociological explanations for the ethnic differences in educational achievement, from language barriers to family life at home. However, it is important to remember not all ethnic minorities to underachieve. Rafi Kentafi Lindill 12P.

Thailand And Japan After The Economic Crisis Economics Essay

Thailand And Japan After The Economic Crisis Economics Essay The relationship between Thailand and Japan were influenced from the beginning primarily by considerations of trade, and this is still the outstanding feature. However, according to the globalisaton, business relations and trade have expanded and have become increasingly intermingled with political affairs, economic cooperation, and investment. Objective To study and analyse the advantage and disadvantage of JTEPA to Thailand. To evaluate whether the cooperation between Thailand and Japan under the JTEPA framework will provide and create common interests and guide to the more interdependent relations. Hypothesis Upon the singing of the JTEPA, it seems to be that Thailand will closely dependent on Japan, which contradicts the Thai governments expectation on JTEPA to be an effective instrument to develop the unequal practices and relations between the two nations. Research Questions What are the character of Thai and Japanese economic relations? What does the Thai government look forward from JTEPA? How does JTEPA contribute to the alteration of relations between Thailand and Japan? Scope This research primarily focuses on Thailands role and its perspectives on international policy and relations with Japan after the great economic crisis in 1997, particularly the case of JTEPA. This study will look at the economic relations between Thailand and Japan and try to answer the question of whether JTEPA would contribute to the more dependent relationship between these two countries. Conceptual Framework In this research, Realism and Interdependence theories will be used as an international theory to answer the research questions and also to clarify the Thailand and Japan in term of economic relations. Realism Realism, or classical realism, is an approach of the study and practice of international relations. The core of realism is national and state survival. As Han J. Morgenthau who was the leading realist thinker of the twentieth century, was stated that Politic is a struggle for power over men. Power is its immediate goal and the modes of acquiring, maintaining, and demonstrating in determines the technique of political action () From this theory, the key point of international policy is to protect and defend the interest of the nation in the global politics. This purpose includes high political concerns of guaranteeing state survival. Security matters, as well as the low political purposes in such areas such as the pursuit of wealth and economic growth and power. In making international policy, the governmental decision-makers evaluate each option, and selecting the one that maximizes advantage or minimize cost associated with attaining the purpose sought. At the present time, Thailand is negotiating FTA with several countries. These FTAs will advantageous for Thailand in term of greater market access in goods and services due to the reduction of trade barrier, increased investment opportunities in oversea markets and decreasing of business costs arising from the dismantling of tariffs and non-tariff barrier. JTEPA is a part of Thai foreign policy toward the Japanese government, especially the economy. The national interest is the significant part in making foreign policy of state. Thailand has achieved to maximize its national interest in any situation it faced. Nevertheless, in negotiation of JTEPA which was the economic cooperation that provided shared interest, the Thai government selected the best option that takes advantage of its national interest without interfering Japanese interests. Although, this agreement made shared interest by enhancing cooperation and reducing the obstacles on trade for Thailand and Japan, it is suspici ous whether both countries are so rational in practice. Interdependence Nowadays the world has become interdependent in economics, in communications and in human aspirations. Interdependence in the global politics refers to situations characterised by reciprocal effects among countries or among actors in different countries. There are two different perceptions that can be adopted for analysing the costs and benefits of an interdependent relationship. The first perception focuses on the joint gains and joint loses to parties involved. The second is relative gains and distributional issue. It is important to remember that interdependence by no means implies equality. Such uneven relations are quite common in contemporary world politics, especially between developed and less develop countries. Interdependence may be highly asymmetrical; one actor may depend on another can often use the interdependent relationship as a source of power in bargaining over an issue perhaps to affect other issues. Due to the geographical proximity of Thailand and Japan, it would be beneficial to develop an economic partnership between them. It will bring economic gain and prosperity to both countries. Thailand is expected that JTEPA will strengthen and improve unfair relations between Thailand and Japan. Although Thailand needs equal treatment, it realises that symmetry interdependence is barely possible. When asymmetry is common in economic interdependence, the question of how much is permissible in a relationship, it should properly be interdependence, rather than one way dependence. The politics of economic interdependence involves competition even when large net benefits can be expected from the cooperation. Methodology The method to be applied in the course of doing this research was mainly a documentary research. To conduct the research, content and statistic analysis were used. Content and statistic was collected from various sources to get the accurate information. They were used to study the changes of economic relations between Thailand and Japan from JTEPA. The statistic of import, investment and ODA were used as a measure to access the degree of dependency between Thailand and Japan. Although dependence will not be eliminated immediately after signing the agreement, it should continually decrease. This research will study the changing of economics crisis with the relations after signing of the JTEPA. Thailand and Japan: Post War relations Thailand and Japan relations have involved several aspects including politics, economy and culture. During the postwar period, the political relations between them were not much mentioned since there were no serious conflicts between them. Moreover, during the Cold War both countries had joined the free world under the leadership of the United States, and supported each other politically. On the economic aspects, Thailand has imported a large amount of Japanese goods and services. Since Thailand had limited capital resources for national development, it had to import capital goods, especially machinery, transportation equipment, chemical, and other industrial materials from Japan. Difference in context of development level, types of product, and price had generated a large trade deficit between Thailand and Japan in favor of the latter, during the 1960s. (Dhiravagin, 1983) The said trade deficit les to the anti-Japanese movement in the 1970s according to the fact of Thai people were terrified of the Japanese domination of their economy. The anti Japanese attitude did come out not only in Thailand but also in other countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia. Therefore, the Fukada Doctrine was declared to develop the economic relations between Japan and Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand. (Sudo, 1988) However, this doctrine was likely to slightly ease the strained situation, the trade deficit between Thailand and Japan was still about US$ 2 billion or 15 percent of the total trade in 1979. (Akrasanee, 1983) Afterward, the Thai government demanded for an equivalent treatment on trade by asking the Japanese government to firstly open their market to the Thai products; secondly, to establish the export-oriented industries in Thailand; and thirdly, to enhance the economic cooperation through more active transfers of techn ology. (Thai MOFA, 2010) In the White Paper on the restructuring of the Thai-Japanese economic relations, established in June 1985, the Thai government requested a reconsideration of the engineering-service conditions on the projects funded by the Japanese government, the Oversea Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) and Yen Loan, in order that the Thai contractors could have more chance in bidding. (Doner, 1991) However, the result of this negotiation was unsuccessful for the Thai government according to the Japanese government did not guarantee to do anything seriously. Thailand started to industrialise its economy in 1950s. By reason of, the shortage of technology and capital, the Thai government necessitated foreign direct investment (FDI) for its Thailand development projects. (Ismail and Yussof, 2003) The Investment Promotion Act 1962 was established for FDI attraction. According to the rapid rise in the wage level in Japan, labor demanding Japanese firm actively undertook FDI in Thailand and other countries in Asian countries. (Wannitikul, 1996) As a result, the Japanese investors have been one of the most important direct investors of Thailand, particularly in the manufacturing area. Importance Japanese industries were textiles, transport equipment, chemical products, electrical appliances and automobiles. Most of the Japanese registered capital was in the form of the joint ventures; only 17 percent of them were in the form of wholly owned Japanese firms. However, the relationship among staff in their joint ventures did not go effortlessly. A number of Thai partners in the joint ventures complained about the unwillingness of Japanese staff in the interfering technological know-how to the Thai staff. In some companies, the high level technology was realised only among Japanese technicians and engineers. The transfer of management authority was another difficulty found in Thai-Japanese joint venture firms. The Japanese head-quarter provide a lot of Japanese staff to control the managerial positions in affiliates, which really prevented Thai staff from learning the management know-how. As a result, several local partners had not been able to create their own business even after several years of joint investment with Japanese companies. (Tho, 1991) For Official Development Assistance (ODA), Thailand has considered Japan as one of the most significant benefactors. It had received a big amount of Japanese ODA for its national development projects through several types including grant, loan, and technical cooperation. From 1961 to 1986, due to the five national economic and social development plans, Thailands development strategy had focused on industrialisation programs. Therefore, Thai government had to set up sufficient infrastructure to support these programs. However, according to the budget constraint, it was required that Thai government had a loan of money from foreign sources. The total overseas loan of Thai government during 1961-1986 amounted to 15,529 million dollars, of which 2,851 million dollars or 18.4 percent came from Japan. (Tinakorn and Siroros, 1991) Apart from bilateral loans, Thailand had also received technical assistance and grant supporting from the Japanese government. Japans yen loans were concentrated on infrastructure which was the foundation of industrialisation while the grants went to agricultural, educational, scientific, technological, health, and community development. Overall, it seems that Thailand was heavily dependent on Japan during the post war era. It was clearly seen that Thailand had faced the trade deficit problems with Japan, it still imported Japanese capital and industrial goods according to the requirement for industrial development. At the same time, Japanese partners did not fulfill the Thai anticipation of technological transfer so Thai staffs must rely on Japanese technicians in operating high technology. In addition, Thailand, at the same time, still depended on both grants and loan of Japanese ODA for its domestic development projects. Thailand-Japan Post-Cold War Relations In the first half of 1990s, trade between Thailand and Japan continued to increase. With the high rate of economic growth of Thailand, Japan was the largest supplier of Thai imports and one of the top targets of Thai exports. Thailand imported capital and industrial products from Japan. These types of products were used for expanding industrial ability and supplying many export industries whereas Japan imported agricultural and consumer products from Thailand. Changes have taken place since the beginning of 1996 according to the economic recession. Thailands imports from Japan had been decreasing. (National Statistical Office, 1992) The trade inequality between Thailand and Japan was becoming slighter. Nevertheless, trade between two countries was increasing again during the recovery of the Thai economy. Regardless of the changing trade relations, trade deficit was still the main problem in the relations between Thailand and Japan. Taking the investment part into consideration, Thailand was a favorite target of foreign direct investment according to its lower labor costs, reasonable infrastructure and stable society, and when Japan faced another period of yen appreciation that made the raised production costs. Japanese investors started strengthening or expanding their production bases in Thailand trough the production of supporting industries, including basic industries such as steel and petrochemicals. Thailand laid the foundations for its strong investment partnership with Japan. These further strengthened economic ties between Thailand and Japan (Japan External Trade Organisation, 2010) However, Japanese investment declined during 1997 according to the unfavorable environment for foreign investment in Asia in 1997. The technology transfer continued to be the difficulty of the Thai-Japanese joint ventures companies. On the Thai side, the lacking of technology manpower, particularly engineers and technicians, and the shortage of capability to adopt and utilize technical knowhow and production technology were the difficulties of Japanese technology transfer. (Prayoon, 1990) On the Japanese side, the Japanese style of management, characterized by intra-firm training and promotion, the seniority system, and lifetime employment always results in a slow transfer of managerial posts from Japanese to local staffs. (Japans MOFA, 2010) With regard to Japanese ODA, although the Thai economy smoothly and increasingly grew in the first half of the 1900a, Thailand still obtained technical assistance from Japan of which the total value amounted to 147.46 billion US dollars. In the second half of the 1990s, Thailand faces a great economic crisis in 1997. (Glassman, 2001) Then, in the midst of the economic crisis, Japans role as a supporter was very important for Thailand because it had provided more than 12.6 billion US dollars for both the financial and technical aid apart from the 4 billion US dollars in August 1997 under the IMFs support package. (Japanese MOFA, 2010) Thailand had also received a large amount of financial and technical support from the Japanese government to raise productivity and competitiveness in Thailand after the economic downturn in 1997. Another Japanese ODA was the New Miyazawa Initiatives which amounted to 1.9 billion US dollars for pushing the Thai economy out of the economic crisis. All in all, since the post-Cold War, the relations between Thailand and Japan have improved in an optimistic direction. Thailand and Japan have became a good partners in the good and crucial moments; however, Thailand has went on facing the trade deficit with Japan and has still depended on Japan both in term of investment and ODA. They have been significant suppliers for each other. The foreign direct investment is essential for the Thai government to develop its economy and society. Japanese investments have completed some parts of the Thai domestic development plans. Japan was as well as an essential donor when Thailand in the economic recession. Nevertheless, the Thai government has made an attempt to develop the relations from this heavily dependence on Japan to be more interdependence. Thailand and JTEPA In the last few decades, the global and regional context has become more complex, with rise of the People Republic of China and India, and the breakdown of the multilateral agreement on trade and investment under the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Many countries in the global community, including Thailand and Japan, have been using trade agreement to improve competitiveness. According to compete in the new type of global context and to retain their profits in the global market, both of Thailand and Japan had to create the strong and effectiveness economic links between the two countries, which is befitting that the agreement between them is named the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement or JTEPA. During 1997-2010, in Thailand, there are six governments governing the country after the economic crisis in 1997. Although, each government had its own economic policy, it is clearly that all of six governments were focused on economic cooperation with other countries, develop mutual interest and avoided conflict among them. Thailand had completed FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with several countries including China, Australia. Thailand is also developing FTA with the essential trading countries; such as U.S.A. and Japan. Being one of Thailands primary trading partners, the Japanese governments attempt to promote with EPA with Thailand will be advantageous to Thailand. Thailand and Japan were negotiating the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement. This agreement did not concentrate only on trade but also other dimensions, including investment, labor, intellectual property rights and so on. It is expected that JTEPA would further widen and deepen Thai-Japanese relations and jointly beneficial cooperation by foreign closer economic relations, enhancing a more favorable investment climate, and generating greater business opportunities through cooperation, liberalisation and facilitation in trade and investment between the two countries. It is also considered that JTEPA will spot a new dimension for Thailand-Japan strategic partnership. (Thai MOFA, 2010) In order to complete economic development and industrialisation, Thailand badly requires foreign investment and technology transfer to shore up its flagging economy (The Nations online, 2000) Japan is not only an important trading partner but also a key investor and source of technology for Thailand. The Thai government understands that the comparative disadvantage if it does not build up and develop FTA with Japan. From the Thai governments point of view, concluding the free trade agreement with Japan may be one instrument to success the Thai economic development according to increasing trade value and foreign investment to Thailand. At the same time, it could also contribute to strengthen Thailand-Japan relations and improve the cooperation between the two countries. Since JTEPA will provide more opportunities for Thai goods and services to entrance into the Japanese market and technology transfer from Japan, these will support Thai industrialisation and develop Thai capability. (S riratanaban, 2004) From Japans point of view, Japan had realised about its disadvantaged competition in this region as the market share would be smaller after China concluded their free trade agreement with ASEAN countries. (ASEANWEB, 2010) Consequently, Japan was looking to set up and develop economic cooperation with its Asian neighbors by offering the Japan-ASEAN Economic Partnership to ASEAN members individually and multilaterally. (Singh, 2002) Japan also completed the Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement in 2002. Thailand was the second nation in Southeast Asia which Japan supposed to conclude the economic agreement after Singapore. It is considered that JTEPA will support with good conditions for Japanese investment in Thailand and provide greater access in Japanese industrial goods, especially automotive and steel industry, to Thai markets. While Thai government considers that JTEPA will be advantageous to Thailand-Japan relations, especially in the economic dimension, according to reducing obstacles on trade and developing cooperation between them, the researcher does not believe that this agreement will be beneficial to Thailand as it is expected, because of the reason that Thailand is a less developed country with economic status. This research will study whether JTEPA would make Thailand and Japan to be more interdependent or vice versa. The impact of JTEPA During the negotiation of the JTEPA, there were several sensitive topics becoming a matter of public concern. According to Pasuk Phongpaichit (2007), there are two points in the negotiation of the JTEPA which indicate what is the impact of this Agreement. In addition, these key points also influence whether the JTEPA is subsequently judged an achievement or disappointment from the Thai perspective: 1. Process 2. Intellectual property Process The first topic focused on the process of JTEPAs negotiation. Bilateral relations in trade and investment agreement are created for share interests. (Anderson, 2008) Accordingly, it means that there is no one party able to obtain all of the profits and there is no one will bear all the loss. General speaking, in international trade agreement, the inequity of power between the two countries can conclude the distribution of the gains. (Phongpaichit, 2007) Up to this point, in the negotiation process, the skill of the individual negotiating parties is very necessary. Due to the process of negotiation is secretive and non-transparent, there always misunderstand between what the negotiators think advantageous and what the public opinion consider beneficial. Up to this point, in Thailand, the negotiations process was condemned for the reason of insufficient transparency. During the negotiation continued from 2004-2006, several significant information was not review visibly available for Thai public opinion. Regarding to Thai law, there was not obligation for this Agreement to be discussed to Thai parliament. It was just discussed and debated in the Legislative Assembly, where Thai legislators were given with little information of the Agreement. Moreover, they had no power to judge and vote anything on the detail of the Agreement. On the other hand, in Japan side, the information on the detail of JTEPA submitted through the Japanese parliament and provided the detail of the Agreement to the public. While there was no public controversy in Japan, there were issues left with suspicion in Thai society. These left suspicions on the Agreement reflects the best interest of Thailand, because there was no mechanism to guarantee those interest wer e appropriately articulated and taken into account. Intellectual property According to Thai protecting intellectual property law, it is hard to get intellectual property right upon a natural organism. Moreover, under the Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property right (TRIPS), each state are authorised to protect themselves by such a law. (WTO, 2010) However, by a clause in the Article 130 of the JTEPA states that each party shall ensure that any patent application shall not be rejected solely on the grounds that the subject matter claimed in the application is related to a naturally occurring micro-organism. () When this issue of the Agreement was disclosed to the public, this issues was questioned that why a clause on intellectual property rights appeared to give Japan with more advantages than those available in TRIPS. Up to this point, Phongpaichit also adds in this point that Thailand provided Japan more benefits of intellectual property rights than Japans EPA was provided by Malaysia. (2007) In sum, given the strong and effectiveness economic links with Japan for the development of the Thai economy, it can be said that it is essential for Thai economy to conclude an agreement with Japan, especially in point of the parallel negotiation between the two countries. However, regarding to this Agreement, it seemed to be that Thailand has become more dependence with Japan. Becoming more dependence with Japan, it gives rise to fear that the weaker parties may be disadvantage in the negotiations. Chapter 2 Literature Review The literature and research that related to the Thailand and Japan economic relations topics had focused on several aspects, namely trade, investment and assistance. Those articles outlined the gain and loss that Thailand would obtain from the economic links between the two countries, for example, Japanese investment that helped Thai industrialisation, trade deficit problems, technology transfer difficulties, the exploitation of resource etc. Some authors recommended a resolution to the problems. After the economic crisis, the economic between the two countries were deepened in view of the fact that Japan became the key actor to help the Thai economy from the economic regression. On the other hand, the assistance of Japan in the revival period caused the dependent problems between Thailand and Japan to be more obvious. As a result, the Thai government continued to improve the economic policy which increase its national interest and decrease economic problems between two countries. This research studies the Thai foreign policy towards Japan in the context of JTEPA, with the expectation that this agreement can be an important factor to develop economic links and decrease economic problems between them. Articles which relate to Thailand and Japan economic relations are reviewed as following: Regarding to Japan was an important trade and investment partner since it resumed economic relations after the World War II, the Thai government focused on attention to improve Thai foreign policy to deal with Japan, particularly economic dimension. Prapat Thepchatree, who wrote Thai-Japanese Economic Relations, analysed the Thai-Japanese economic relations after the World War II (2007).For the trade, He outlined that the trade deficit between Thailand and Japan caused by the nature of trade of both countries was on the same scale in which Thailand exported agricultural goods to Japan while the most of Japanese exports to Thailand were capital and industrial goods. In addition, the protectionism was the important non-tariff barrier for Thai product that reasoned the trade deficit problems. For the investment, the author pointed that although Japanese investment played a critical role to develop Thai industrial, Japanese investment caused several problems such as technology transfer. For ODA, he considered that the Japanese ODA did not suit with Thailands demand, consequently, the Thai problems were not solved by ODA. Regarding to his study, the economic relations trend between Thailand and Japan would be closer and as a result trade, investment and cooperation would be increased. Regarding to Theerawongseri (1990), Although Japan was a key factor in the Thai economy, there were the economic problems between the two countries. It was obviously that Thailands economic dependence rooted from the structural imbalance of this economic link. The Thai government hoped that the White Paper that proposed to redistribute the Thai-Japanese economic relationship would be proper the inequality problems. (Trinidad, 2007) Under the White Paper, both of the two countries required to restructure its economic structure in the face of the rapidly changing global economic context. Accordingly, Thailand needed to pay more attention to enhance its agro-industrial goods to be value-added commodities. Moreover, Thailand should keep the cooperation with the Japanese public and private firm to create the mutual interest and aspiration for the peace, stability, and well-being of the relations between the two countries. (Theerawongseri, 1990) For the investment issue, Johzen Takeuchi (1991) outlined the technology transfer between Thailand and Japan in Technology Tranfer and Japan-Thai Relations. Takeuchi (1991) analysed that Thailand and Japan were misleading in a technology transfer concept and process. Up to this point, Thailand realised that the technology transfer was a piece of baggage with a bundle of handbook manuals (Takeuchi, 1991) while most of Japanese manufacture considered the concept of technology as meaning accumulative and dynamic process. Due to Thailand was an agricultural based country and its economic was condemned as undeveloped (Limskul, 2004), this factor was partly responsible for the lack of inadequate of various skills which was necessitated in the industrial issue. Therefore, Japan did not transfer high technology to Thailand but Thailand did not understand this point. According to the study of Takeuchi (1991), there are four main reasons that Thailand criticised in the issue of Japanese reluct ance to transfer the latest technology and the research and development (RD) sections: 1. The scale of Japanese firms was smaller than the European and American Firms, particularly in terms of employment, Therefore, Japan did not have enough beneficial effects on employment creation. 2. Japanese forms were uninterested to adopting local materials and intermediate goods, and their business activities did not advantage on national industrial sector. 3. Japanese firm did not export their products, which showed that they transferred out of date production systems that lack the potential to gain competitiveness in international market. 4. Japanese firms did not point out the complete handbook manual for operation and management. Moreover, the author (Takeuchi, 1991) also recommended that it would be useful that both of Thailand and Japan to collect more information as well as do more case studies to enhance the sympathetic in order to reduce the perception gap. Shiowattana (1990) also studied in the issue of technology transfer between Thailand and Japan but in other context. According to her study, the importance of introducing new of technology was not the key factor leading to successful industrialization, but the capability to learn and improve the acquired technology was much important in order to ensure healthy industrial development. Shiowattana (1990) pointed that the cause of the problem was that Thailand lacked the ability in technology reproduction. Therefore, the Thai government became more aware of the necessity to promote and strengthen the technological capabilities of industry. On Japans side, the technology transfer was determined by the policy of Japanese MNCs. In addition, the author outlined that the Japanese joint venture had successful records in technology transfer. As Japan wish for dominating as a self-contained network in the Thai economy, it realised that technological strength was a dynamic force, consequently, p ressing for further growth of its economic abilities in Thailand. Xiaodong (1994) analysed the effect of Japanese Investment in Thailand since 1986 in What Thailand has gained and lost from Japanese investment. The author mentioned that Japanese Direct Investment (JDI) after 1986 was a significant event which changed the situation in the Thai economy. Acording to Xioadongs study, this study paid much attention on the issue of contributions and conflicts in the JDIs process towards to the Thai economy. For the contribution, JDI stimulated economic growth and industrialisation in Thailand. For example, one fifth of JDI flew into the Thai manufacturing export sector, this stimulated Thai exports and

Neurobiology of Human Sexuality :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Neurobiology of Human Sexuality Human sexuality is a topic that has been taboo for many centuries. The orgasm, for example, is one aspect of sexuality that has been overlooked. In particular, the female orgasm is an important function to address because it's a subject that has been socially steeped in silence and shame, and is directly connected to female health in general. Not many people are willing to admit, that orgasms actually benefit a woman physically and psychologically in many ways (i.e. easing menstrual cramps to alleviate stress). One mystery about the female orgasm is why some women "fake" orgasms during sexual activity. One thing that is for sure, is that even though the male orgasm is reached quicker, the female orgasm is capable of repeated pleasure. Why do so many women have difficulty experiencing an orgasm and why do men climax so fast? Interestingly enough, most women will confess that their partners do not give them orgasm. Instead, they allow themselves to have orgasms. Not only that, but they can have a variety of different types of orgasms at the same time. (i.e. clitoral orgasms, G-spot orgasms, vaginal orgasms, ejaculatory orgasms, blended orgasms, etc). Men will comment for example, that the scent of a woman is what drives them crazy during sexual activity and makes them unable to hold the sensation for long. So do women have more control over physical pleasure in the brain than men? How do sexual problems happen in the brain? There is a combination of things that come in effect when it comes to an orgasm in the brain. Neurotransmitters, and neuro-peptides for example, are heavily involved in the sexual response. To reach an orgasm, the central nervous system sends orders to the heart, so that it pumps faster, sending blood to oxygenate the increase of blood flow in muscles involved in sexual activity. Nitric oxide, serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, are just a few of the neurotransmitters and neuro-peptides involved in sexual activity. Nitric oxide (NO) plays a critical role in both male and female sexuality. In penile erections, NO stimulates the release of guanylate cyclase, which, in turn, converts GTP to cGMP and produces relaxation of smooth muscles and increased blood flow into the penis. This information is used in the popular drug sildenafil (ViagraTM) that inhibits the metabolism of cGMP to prolong the effects of the erection. (1) Serotonin's role in sexual function is that of constriction of smooth muscles in the genitals, and peripheral nerve function.

Effects of Modernity Essay -- essays research papers

The old-traditional way of life has vanished for ever. Today only villages and some small towns remind us of this kind of life, and as time passes, more people choose to abandon traditional way of life, to move to the â€Å"big city†. Modern way of life has nothing in common with the traditional one. Human habits, values, norms have changed. The most important of these social changes can be observed in human relationships, family economy, education, government, health, and religion. To be able to examine these changes, one has to compare traditional and modern way of life. In traditional societies, to begin with, there is a strong fellow-feeling; everybody is considered a friend and is expected to act this way, in case of personal or family crisis. In every-day life one would be happy to lend his neighbour anything he is asked without expecting anything in return. This fellow-feeling does not exist in modern cities, where the general rule taught to city-people when they are still children is: trust no one. The size and density of population, anonymity and high rate of criminality may be responsible for this kind of behaviour. Despite the fact that each city group chooses to behave this way for different reasons, the result will always be the same (Gans: 235-237). In addition to the change in human behaviour towards people outside his family, there is change in family life as well. The extended family providing all means of socialization and economic production, became nuclear, ...

Keats’ Fear and Tichborne’s Acceptance: Death Essay -- Poetry Analysis

Death is inevitable. Chidiock Tichborne and John Keats in their poems â€Å"Tichborne’s Elegy† and â€Å"When I have fears that I may cease to be† convey death in opposite ways. Tichborne through his poetic style, shows an acceptance of his death, as a result of reflecting on a life fulfilled, but unrecognized. While Keats, expresses a fear of death, where he contemplates that he will not be able to experience love or fame. Both these poets have lead lives that varied from each other in ways that are most revealed through their use of form, metaphors, repetition, punctuation and rhyme schemes. Moreover, both poets express and explore deep rooted human emotions such as, nostalgia, pain, love and a feeling of insatiability. Although â€Å"Tichborne’s Elegy† and â€Å"When I have fears that I may cease to be† share a common theme because each speaker contemplates the inevitability of his death, their perceptions differ mainly as a result of thei r circumstances. John Keats explores his fear of death in â€Å"When I have fears that I may cease to be† in the form of a Shakespearean Sonnet. The poem contains three quatrains that interlock his primary fears together, leading to a couplet that expresses his remedy and final thoughts. His primary fears are expressed with respect to the abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme of the Shakespearean Sonnet, with each fear contained in each rhyming quatrain. His first fear, in the first quatrain is dying without living up to his full potential as a writer, when he states, â€Å"Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2). This line indicates that he has not expressed through his pen, all that is on his mind, and leads into the second quatrain with the use of a semicolon which suggests that the next part of the poem is connecte... ...eats as well, when he refers to â€Å"†¦the shore of the wide world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  it symbolizes the world of his experiences, which he ponders on. It is only by deeper inspection of these symbols can a clear idea of what the poets are expressing be understood. By comparing both these poems, it is evident that although death is the focus of both these poems, Tichborne has accepted it, while Keats fears it, but has found a way to resolve his fears. Works Cited " Hatzitsinidou , Evangelia . "Fates(Moirae)-the spinners of the thread of life." Greek-Gods.Info- Greek Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. . Vendler, Helen. "The Poem as Life, The Poems as Arranged Life." Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. Third Edition ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 18,68. Print.

Environmental Laws of Bangladesh

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0959-6119. htm IJCHM 18,4 Hotels’ environmental management systems (ISO 14001): creative ? nancing strategy Wilco W. Chan and Kenny Ho School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong Abstract Purpose – Environmental concerns have been increasing in the travel industry. However, most hotels are unwilling to develop an international environmental management system (EMS) probably due to a lack of resources and knowledge.In order to encourage more organizations to take part in the EMS, three cases adopting international EMS are investigated to ascertain the ways to support the formation of EMS. Based on their experience, hoteliers are encouraged to team up with green members to apply for research funding for the investigation and implementation of EMS. Also, â€Å"energy performance contracting† methods to ? nance environmenta l improvement projects in hotels were also discussed.Design/methodology/approach – A single case study approach was adopted to illustrate the differences in the resources mobilization for setting EMS in these three hotels. A search of documentary evidence and interviews with hotel staff was the main instrument for data collection. Findings – The Shangri-la Hotel used its own resources to set up its EMS and strategically used its developed template for other hotels in the group to follow. The other two hotels, Nikko and Grandstanford, adopted a creative and â€Å"non-balance sheet† approach to mobilize resources for the formation of EMS.Both hotels have recourse to external resources including a university’s engineering department, hotel management school, green bodies, government funds and trade associations to develop and implement the EMS. The study further identi? ed energy performance contracting as another promising ? nancing tool for the implementat ion of the energy-related part of the EMS. Research limitations/implications – The representative and general nature of the ? ndings are limited to large hotels in metropolitan areas, as the three case hotels are located in the metropolis of Hong Kong.Practical implications – The ? ndings provide informative details on how to secure external resources to set up internationally recognized environmental management systems and the safe way for hotel operators to trial use energy-saving facilities. Originality/value – This study provides indications and details on some creative ? nancing techniques for setting up EMS in hotels. These ? nancial strategies are the ? rst of their kind in print and can serve as a useful reference for hotels to develop international EMS. Keywords Environmental management, Hotels, Financing Paper type Case study 302International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Vol. 18 No. 4, 2006 pp. 302-316 q Emerald Group Publishing Limit ed 0959-6119 DOI 10. 1108/09596110610665311 Introduction Many efforts on environmental protection work in hotels in the 1990s were a continuation of some long-standing environmental concerns such as energy Support for the author from Mr Tamiyasu Okawa and Mr Jean-Marie Leclercq, the present general manager and ex-general manager of The Hotel Nikko Hongkong is gratefully acknowledged. The author would also like to thank The Hong Kong Hotel Association for the help in providing valuable information. onservation, sewage discharge, air and noise pollution that occurred over the past few decades (Stipanuk, 1996). Coupled with this development have been the growing concerns for a â€Å"green† hotel in the eyes of customers. A study indicated that 75 percent of interviewed customers claimed that they were environmentally-minded consumers and would choose hotels which showed concern for the environment (Feiertag, 1994). Also, Cook et al. (1992) pointed out that business in the travel industry was required to adapt to new environmental realities and to implement environmental policies and strategies.In 1995, a comprehensive environmental action checklist and action development guide for small and medium-sized hotels was jointly published by international hotel and environmental associations (International Hotel and Restaurant Association, 1995). This publication provided hotels with more detailed information to launch environmental management systems (EMS). Under these circumstances, EMS, as across the world, has recently become more recognized in the hotel industry. Almost all hotels have implemented their in-house EMS with varying degrees of intensity.Kirk’s survey found that the most signi? cant bene? t of environmental management was the improvement in public image and better relationships with the local community (Kirk, 1995). However, many hoteliers with written environmental policies saw the greatest bene? t in ? nancial management performance. Thu s, to implement the EMS, the ? rst step is to have a clear environmental policy, objectives, targets and good planning. To further enhance effectiveness, hoteliers should always monitor and review the system after the implementation.However, due to resource limitations, many hotels’ environmental efforts pause after they have taken some environmental actions such as implementation of water saving campaign, installation of energy-ef? cient lighting, reuse of waste paper and other initiatives. Recent ISO 14000 series provides an effective guideline on the content of EMS, auditing, environmental performance evaluation and so on, as shown in the appendix. Among them, ISO 14001 documents all essential elements in the EMS as shown in Table I. Most importantly, a successful EMS requires a lot of resources, including manpower, cost and time for planning (Sayre, 1996).The costs arising from the implementation of ISO 14001 include those associated with initial set-up, maintenance and i mprovement (Chin et al. , 1998). The cost of initial set-up refers to all costs associated with the provision of hardware and software facilities, plus tools for establishing the system in compliance with the ISO 14000 EMS standards. Speci? cally this category of cost involves the purchase of monitoring and measuring equipment, documentation processing and storage equipment/accessories, hiring specialist environmental assistance, initial staff training, computer software as well as staff recruitment.Added to the cost pool is the ? nancing of maintenance and improvements. This category of expenditure refers to the costs of maintaining and continually improving the EMS in the company so that optimum environmental performance can be achieved with the changing environmental conditions and requirements. It also includes the costs associated with ongoing staff training, environment equipment replacement and upgrading, periodic environmental auditing and third-party certi? cation and so fo rth. Environmental management systems 303 IJCHM 18,4 1. 2. 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 3. 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3. 4 3. 5 3. 6 3. 7 4. 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 5. Environmental policy Planning Environmental aspects Legal and other requirements Objectives and targets Environmental management program(s) Implementation and operation Structure and responsibility Training, awareness and competence Communication Environmental management system documentation Document control Operational control Emergency preparedness and response Checking and corrective action Monitoring and measurement Non-conformance and corrective and preventive action Records Environmental management system audit Management review 04 Table I. ISO 14001 environmental management system elementsSource: Fredericks and McCallum (1998) In addition, EMS certi? cation costs at least HK$100,000 (about US$13,000) should also be budgeted (Anon, 1996). The cost is paid to the certifying body, which would examine whether the hotel has ful? lled all the necessary conditions of international EMS standard ISO 14001. However, most organizations lack the knowledge, experience and expertise required to develop an EMS and many are unable or unwilling to commit the required staff and ? ancial resources to undertake this development (Chapman, 1997). Earlier studies also found that lodging customers in the US are not willing to pay extra to support environmental policies (Watkins, 1994; Jaffe, 1993). However, some hotels launched pilot schemes to encourage guests to contribute to local environmental schemes (Green, 1995). Though new international EMS standard ISO 14001 certi? cates in Hong Kong have recently been obtained by several hotels, the progress on industry-wide adoption is still slow. The phenomenon is not just con? ned to Hong Kong.Pryce (2001) highlighted, according to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ report, that only 40 percent of large hotel groups surveyed in Europe had a formal EMS and only one was externally veri? ed. Pryc e (2001) further quoted the results of a survey of small and medium-sized hotels in three UK countries and pointed out that none of these hotels had implemented a formal EMS. Thus, it is valuable to understand how environmental pioneers in the hotel sector, Shangri-la, Nikko and Grandstanford set up their EMS under resource constraints. Especially after the Asian ? ancial crisis, 9/11 event and SARS, the resources available to the hotel sector appear to be less than before. Therefore, the principal objective of the study is to identify and analyze the ways that these hotels mobilize resources to establish EMS up to ISO 14001, especially any creative and non-conventional ? nancing (that is neither debt or equity issues, nor borrowing or requesting funds from the hotel owners). Methodology The approach adopted in the study is close to action research, using case studies that aim to explore the rich background of the cases.As the purpose of this study is to explore the variations in en vironmental management systems and its associated ? nancing measures, the study adopted a non-traditional case selection criterion. Decisions are based on which case studies provide the most fruitful data for the research question (Doyle, 2003) or provide the most â€Å"opportunity to learn† (Stake, 2000). In addition, the investigating topic is new and falls into the â€Å"timing in the early stages of the ? eld†, studies of individual cases are particularly suitable (Eisenstadt, 1991).These single cases have been used to offer vivid, powerful and penetrative descriptions of events, relationships, and ways of working that are not captured by existing theories (Cunningham, 1997; Crane, 1998; Dyer and Wilkins, 1991). To analyze these cases strategically, a descriptive framework consisting of search of documentary evidence and interviews with hotel staff of the hotels studied was developed to organize case studies. The documentation encompasses hotel EMS manual, universi ty’s published reports, fund application documents, periodicals, and hotel reports.The total number of interviewees is 14 including one owner representative, two general managers, one resident manager, three chief engineers, four green managers or quality assurance managers and three departmental head’s assistants. Shangri-la case The island Shangri-la hotel is a ? ve-star hotel located at the top of a large shopping complex near Central Hong Kong, and with 565 rooms and seven catering outlets. In September 1996, it started the process of developing an EMS and soon became the ? rst hotel in Asia to obtain ISO 14001 certi? ation. Its prompt development of EMS up to international standards is based on its existing â€Å"best practice† in each department. The EMS brings signi? cant bene? ts – reputation and competitive edge – to the hotel and these bene? ts have always outweighed the cost (Tsai et al. , 2003). In general, the funding sources of most l arge business are mainly derived from equity and debt issues. For Shangri-la’s environment management system, it most likely came from internal resources of the group (Tan, 2004).A further investigation of the group’s annual reports indicate that, apart from funds originating from regular income, the group issued convertible bonds with the total principal amount of US$258 million with interest at the rate of 2. 875 percent per annum. This implies that ? nancing for environmental works should not just be limited to equity ? nancing, reserve and income fund. Funds available from debt ? nancing can also be considered as an alternative. The successful ISO 14001 certi? cation in Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-la hotel provides a model for the groups’ other hotels to set up environmental management systems and its certi? ation. An environmental management manual was also developed to address the immediate and long-term environmental impact of hotel Environmental ma nagement systems 305 IJCHM 18,4 306 operations. In addition, an environmental consultant was hired to inspect hotels to ensure not merely that the EMS is being maintained but that continual environmental improvement is achieved by setting new environmental goals (Shangri-la Hotels Group, 2005). Therefore, Shangri-la’s certi? cation in Hong Kong can be regard as a pilot practice and reusable resource for further development of EMS in the group’s other hotels that do not have a proper EMS.Nikko’s case Hotel Nikko Hongkong (Nikko) is a member of Nikko Hotels International, with headquarter in Tokyo, Japan. The hotel continues the tradition of Japanese hospitality, which is renowned throughout the world. Opened in April 1988, Hotel Nikko Hongkong is a ? ve-star deluxe hotel in Hong Kong, with 462 rooms. The hotel is located at Tsim Sha Tsui East overlooking Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Environmental protection has always been at the heart of the philosophy of Nikk o. Even as early as 1992, the hotel was pushing for environmental improvements by implementing energy and water conservation practices throughout the hotel.As soon as the green practices on water and energy were on track, the hotel started looking for ways to minimize waste production (Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1999). Over the past years, the management and staff of Nikko have continued through different stages of improvement on the environment. Nikko is the leader in implementing EMS in the Hong Kong hotel industry. The environmental management system (based on the ISO 14001 standard) of Nikko was set up in April 1999 (Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1999). However, before Nikko’s completion of EMS implementation, Nikko did face many dif? culties and had spent tremendous efforts on environmental protection.Among these, resources and ? nancial support are the main concerns in launching an EMS campaign. Operating budgets may not allow hoteliers the extravagance of calling in expert consulta nts to set up the environmental system. While operating budgets were tight, Nikko from 1992 sought help from community bodies such as academic institutions and government departments (Department of Building Services Engineering and Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1996). Partnership with community bodies Over the past years, Nikko developed a cohesive partnership with outside bodies in implementing its EMS.The collaborating partners of Nikko are categorized as four types. These include educational establishments, green bodies, government’s departments as well as the industry council. Collaboration with community bodies is one way to reduce costs of research and enables hotels to acquire funds for ongoing environmental work. Figure 1 shows the relationship between Nikko and its partners, plus the contribution of these partners in supporting Nikko’s environmental endeavors. Nikko has gained support and recognition from partners such as the Hong Kong Hotel Association (HKHA), govern ment’sIndustry Department (ID), Friends of the Earth and other environmentally-friendly enterprises. With the help of those partners, Nikko has successfully solved resource-oriented problems in launching the hotel’s environmental activities and eventually obtained the ISO 14001 certi? cate. Environmental management systems 307 Figure 1. Relationship in partnership of Hotel Nikko Hongkong Educational establishments The major educational partner of Nikko is the Department of Building Services Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.Table II shows various projects or publications conducted by the educational department in improving many aspects of Nikko’s EMS. As can be seen from Table II, most of the student-assisted research focused on evaluating the performance of environmental improvement that required a signi? cant resource. The ex-GM said that collaboration with universities was a program of mutual bene? ts. On the side of universities, students m ight have on-site working opportunity provided by Nikko whilst professors might use Nikko as a test case. For Nikko, the hotelier might save a huge amount of research costs, as most of the research work is unpaid.Besides, the University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s (HKUST) Institute for Environmental Studies also lend their effort in supporting the hotel’s environmental pursuits. The former assisted in the compilation of the energy and water conservation guide and the IJCHM 18,4 Student research project 1998-2000 308 Publications 1996 and 1998 Table II. Joint projects collaborated by Nikko and the Department of Building Services Engineering of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University 1. Indoor air quality study 2.Review of building labeling scheme – checking compliance with energy ef? ciency codes 3. Parameter setting for boiler and chiller data log – calibration of equipment 4. Air ? ow balance and distribution in hotel food and beverage outlets 5. Indoor air quality survey 6. Opportunities for energy ef? cient lighting retro? t 7. Study of power factor and distribution losses 1. Keeping Hong Kong’s Hotel Industry Competitive into the Twenty-? rst Century – Environmental Management Systems for Hotels. With overall objective helping the Hong Kong hotel industry to be more competitive and pro? able and, at the same time, reduce adverse environmental impacts 2. A Guide to Energy and Water Conservation in Hotels. Aimed to contribute to reduce energy and water consumption in all hotels, contributing to their pro? tability whilst helping to protect the environment for future generations. Based on a number of energy and water conservation projects carried out in hotel buildings in Hong Kong, but particularly the extensive range of projects at Hotel Nikko Hongkong Source: Hotel Nikko Hongkong (1999) latter was involved in bidding for a HK$1 million fund (arou nd US$130,000) for developing an EMS template for hotels.As such, the hotel’s environmental performance and operating ef? ciency would increase. This partnership creates a win-win situation. Environmental-supporting parties Nikko has set up a cohesive partnership with parties endorsing environment conservation. Friends of the Earth Association supports Nikko’s efforts in saving energy and improving environmental performance. The parties provided Nikko with the latest environmental information related to the hotel industry and shared their professional ideas or recommendations with Nikko. In this way, Nikko saved costs in information collection and expert consultancy.Furthermore, the environmental-supporting groups usually give recognition to environmental-friendly businesses, including Nikko, with outstanding performance. The award is not merely a simple recognition of effort in environment conservation, but also adds to their reputation and can become a strong stimulu s to push environmental conscious visitors choosing Nikko. Government departments In 1997, Nikko received the Energy Ef? cient Building Award 1997 from the Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau. In 1998, Nikko further joined with other partners and successfully obtained HK$1 million from the Industry Support Fund of the IndustryDepartment for a project entitled â€Å"Keeping Hong Kong’s hotel industry competitive into the twenty-? rst century – environmental management systems for hotels†. The project aimed to develop an EMS template for the local hotel sector. Apart from awards and funds, cohesive linkage with governments and bureaus also enable Nikko to have up-to-date environment-related legislation data more easily, and express its ideas more directly to government of? cials. Industry councils Hotel Nikko plays an active role in sharing experiences and participating in projects proposed by the local hotel association, the Hong Kong Hotel Association (HKHA). In return, Nikko receives relevant environmental information from other member hotels of the association. The association also assisted Nikko by assigning its Environmental Committee to take up an advisory role in the above-mentioned EMS template development. In addition, the association also helped in translating the Guide to Energy and Water Conservation in Hotels developed by Nikko into Chinese by introducing Zhengzhou Holiday Inn and Zhengzhou Crowne Plaza to aid the translation. Nikko’s endeavor and effort was further recognized by international industry councils.In 1995, the International Hotels and Restaurants Association granted Nikko the award â€Å"Corporate Green Hotelier of the Year 1995†. The award further identi? es Nikko as a successful leader in the global green hotel movement. Inter-continental Grand Stanford Grand Stanford is a waterfront ? ve-star hotel located in Tsim Sha Tsui East. It has 579 rooms and four food and beverage outlets. The hotel was managed by Holiday Inn in the 1980s and by the owner’s management company in the 1990s.The resources available to the development of ISO 14001 EMS in Inter-continental Grand Stanford mainly include Nikko’s experience, the government funded scheme of hotel environmental system, and university’s assistance (Chan, 2005). Thanks to Nikko generous sharing of ISO 14001 certi? cation experience and the data required for setting up an EMS, Grand Stanford’s senior management embarked on the development of EMS under ISO 14001 version in the early 2000s. Besides Nikko’s experience, Grand Stanford also bene? ts substantially from the government funded scheme bout the environmental assessment of the hotel buildings. The scheme includes the development of a number of environmental assessment manuals for different phases of hotels – project, new building and existing building. In addition, Grand Stanford also acted like Nikko in the past by co-operating wi th nearby university to conduct a number of measurements for environmental performance indicators. Apart from these external resources, Grand Stanford also progressively employed internal funds to install energy-saving facilities including heat pumps for the hot water system and solar-control ? m for windows.Implications Based on the investigation of these three cases, the study summarized the similarities and differences in their approaches. As shown in Table III, all these hotels have strong partnerships with green bodies and have been involved in sharing experience with trade association, other hotels and government. Two hotels were also found to have strong collaboration with a university’s engineering department and hotel school. The Environmental management systems 309 IJCHM 18,4 Collaborate with university’s: 1.Engineering department 2. Hotel school Nikko ? ? ? ? ? Shangri-la Grand Stanford ? ? 310 Partnership with environmental supporting parties Written suppor t to apply: 1. Government fund 2. Private fund Free EMS template Sharing experience from: 1. Trade association 2. Other hotels 3. Of? cial department Internal reserve or debt issue ? ? ? ? Table III. Similarities and differences in approaches ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? former provides technical expertise and the latter provide operational knowledge in the environmental projects in hotels.In terms of monetary investment, one hotel placed a large amount on formation of EMS while the other purchased a number of energy saving facilities. In fact, the project funds secured by Nikko represent a small part of the funds available in the community. Further research indicated that there are other sources of funds available for quality environmental projects, as shown in Table IV. However if one wants to successfully secure the funds, a good and meaningful proposal for application of funds is required.This implies an experienced proposal writer and a team of related experts is a pre-requisite. Agai n, this type of caliber is not easily available in hotels. Thus, collaboration with educational institutes in writing up the proposal may enhance the likelihood of success. Energy performance contracting Besides applications for public or private funding for hotel’s environmental work, energy performance contracting can be considered as another alternative to ? nance environmental improvement.Performance contracting is a unique arrangement where contractors usually assume responsibility for purchasing and installing the equipment, as well as maintenance throughout the contract. Only when the installed equipment actually reduces expenses does the contractor get paid. This allows the hotel owners to make necessary improvements while investing very little money up front. Meanwhile, it is also a risk-sharing relationship between the host and the contractor that is sometimes called as the Energy Service Company (ESCO) (Woodruff and Turner, 1998).ESCO is a company that provides bot h the technical expertise to reduce energy costs and the ? nance for energy ef? ciency investments. In the UK, performance contracting is called contract energy management (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, 1991). In fact, the name is relatively new, but some of the companies in the industry have been in business for over 20 years. Name of environmental fund USa Richard King Mellon Foundation John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation The Pew Charitable Trusts The Ford Foundation W. K. Kellogg Foundation The Andrew W.Mellon Foundation Environment Wales The Environmental Action Fund The Environmental Know How Fund The Environmental Protection Research Program Environmental Conservation Fund and Woo Wheelock Green Fund Innovation and Technology Fund: Innovation and Technology Support Program Innovation and Technology Fund: University-Industry Collaboration Program Innovation and Technology Fund: General Support Fund Sustainable Development Fund Competitive E armarked Research Grant (CERG) University Internal Fund Departmental Research Fund in University National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC)Environmental management systems 311 Europeb Hong Kongc Source: a Stein (1993); b Forrester and Casson (1998); c www. itf. gov. hk/Default. asp Table IV. Fund available for quality environmental project According to Hansen and Weisman (1998), performance contracting is now poised on the threshold of even greater opportunities to work with government, utilities, institutions and commercial establishments. In the mid-late 1990s, performance contracting received more attention in the US.For example, the US federal government has used performance contracting to upgrade facilities, even when budgets were being dramatically cut. In essence, they â€Å"sold† some of their future energy savings to an ESCO (Woodruff and Turner, 1998). In the case of Canada, trade associations urged government to fund the set up of ESCO, as there was little prospect for setting up private sector ? rms in the short-term (Association of Energy Engineers, 1998). In Hong Kong, a research report also found that most interviewees considered that performance contracting for energy conservation may be suitable in the future (Chan, 1999).The key elements of applying performance contracting suggested by the interviewees were â€Å"management commitment, government support, technical and human factors†. Conclusions Environmental management systems are well-recognized in the hotel industry across the world. Unfortunately, many hoteliers are unable or unwilling to implement the system due to resources constraints. However, two cases studied reveal that resources for the formation of internationally recognized EMS 14001 can be drawn outside the balance sheet (that is equity and liabilities).In the mid-1990s, two professors’ suggestions that sound environmental management can reduce costs also occurred to IJCHM 18,4 312 Kirk (1995) who subseque ntly advised the hotel business to start with easy-to-achieve and low cost environmental projects. Moderate and high investment projects can be scheduled later when hoteliers had con? dence in and established bene? ts from earlier environmental actions (Iwanowski and Rushmore, 1994; Kirk, 1995). This approach is particularly suitable to hotels with tight resources or when the hotel sector experiences a business downturn.Nevertheless, hoteliers may learn from successful cases, particularly Nikko, and collaborate with various â€Å"green† partners – universities, government, trade associations and green bodies – to work on more complex environmental matters. Speci? cally, hotels can team up with these green members to apply for research funding for the investigation and implementation of EMS. This practice, in turn, accelerates the speed of environmental actions. Apart from EMS with ISO certi? cation, Green Globe 21 also offers a certi? cation to travel-related or ganizations that wished to demonstrate their commitment to environmental improvement.The Green Globe program provides travel and tourism companies with a framework for achieving year on year improvement in environmental performance (Rodgers, 2002). The framework contains ? ve sections, including environmental policy, regulatory framework, environmental performance; EMS as well as requirements for stakeholder consultation and communication. Other-related certi? ed programs may include Australia’s International Ecotourism Standard, Americas’ Sustainable Tourism Certi? cation Network and Europe’s Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainability in Tourism (Hammond, 2004).Similarly, obtaining these certi? cations also requires a signi? cant amount of resources and effort. The ? nancial tools – mainly collaboration between hotel and external parties including universities, governments, trade associations and green bodies – ascertained in these case studies can thus be applied when any organization plans to pursue these programs. Other than green certi? cation granted by ISO and Green Globe, the voluntary environment assessment scheme for hotels (Hong Kong Hotels Association, 2000) also receives a considerable amount of technical resources and research expertise.The scheme sets a scoring scheme in two areas. One is to consider actions by the hotels in endeavoring to reduce environmental impacts through more effective management and maintenance practice. The other is to assess the building facilities performance by referring to indoor environmental performance criteria, local codes of good practice and benchmarked energy and water consumption. As such, hotel’s collaboration with university staff in conducting research and applying for research funds as manifested in the studied cases may provide valuable and enormous assistance to attain a good scoring result.The lesson learnt from these cases reveal that trade association’s p articipation in environmental work cannot be neglected. The association in these cases not merely promoted the green activities by presenting environmental awards and organizing seminars but for instance also coordinated with enthusiastic hotels by arranging transport to ship all discarded bottles for recycling. Most importantly, the association also assisted in writing endorsement letters to apply for funds for creating a template for hotels to develop EMS according to ISO requirements.Thus, the association indeed provides a catalyst function to advance the function of EMS in the industry. Embedded in these supportive activities are enormous time and resources. On the other hand, the government also played an important role in the industry’s green environment, not just by creating environmental funds to assist the business. In fact, the government of? cials have always shared their experience on environmental work with the practitioners. In order to keep updating their envir onmental technology knowledge, the of? ials regularly liaise with manufacturers, professors and their colleagues in the environmental protection department as well as the engineering department. Without their endeavor in environmental improvement, the pace of environmental movement would de? nitely slow down. In the late 1990s, a survey conducted by the United Nations and the International Hotel Association identi? ed a lack of training resource as the major concern when introducing environmental matters in hotel management curricula.The French Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environment together with some hotels have sponsored the production of teaching tools for environmental issues in hospitality curricula (United Nations Environmental Program, 2001). The Hong Kong and French government’s funding in these two cases further indicate the importance of government support in pursuit of sustainable tourism by the industry. In fact, besides funding, the government of? cials hav e always shared their experience on environmental work with practitioners and listen to environmental problems encountered by practitioners. This two-way communication also implies a signi? ant amount of time devoted by both parties. Thus, government’s active participation may hasten the pace of environmental change. Other than the above-mentioned stakeholders in the hotel industry’s pursuit of sustainable tourism development, green groups are also another major contributor. They often complement the university’s environmental research, and green groups have also conducted some environmental research which may, to a certain extent, be applicable to the hotel environment. For instance, Friends of the Earth has investigated disappearing timber in tropical rain forests in relation to buildings.